With Porzingis Out on Short Notice, Knicks Unite for a Victory

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Robin Lopez going for a shot against the Pistons on Saturday.CreditEarl Wilson/The New York Times

By Seth Berkman

March 5, 2016

With just over an hour remaining before the Knicks tipped off against the Detroit Pistons at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night, Coach Kurt Rambis made a rare appearance in the locker room. He called out for Derrick Williams, who could not hear his name over the music pumping through his headphones.

Rambis walked over, tapped Williams on the shoulder and had Williams, a forward, follow him into his office. Minutes later, the Knicks announced that Kristaps Porzingis would be unavailable because of a lower left leg contusion. Rambis had told Williams that he would be starting in his place.

The call was surprising. Rambis had just concluded his pregame news media session, where he had indicated there were no pertinent injuries, just a bunch of players dealing with “bumps and bruises and stuff like that.” Apparently, “stuff like that” holds more serious meaning in Knicks medical parlance than in casual usage.

With Porzingis absent, the Knicks thrived, taking down the Pistons, 102-89. Carmelo Anthony, Robin Lopez and Arron Afflalo each scored 20 or more points.

During the game, X-rays of Porzingis’s leg were negative. Rambis said after the game that he did not know the severity of the injury, but that Porzingis had trouble pushing off his leg after a workout and treatment earlier in the day.

Rambis characterized the injury as “day-to-day” but said the Knicks’ medical staff thought it would not be a lingering injury.

Despite the uncharacteristically cohesive performance without Porzingis, he remains the key piece of the Knicks’ future. Before the game, Rambis said he thought Porzingis could eventually evolve into having a dynamic mobile role similar to Draymond Green’s on the Golden State Warriors.

In the game’s opening moments, it looked as if Porzingis would be dearly missed. Williams was called for a foul after 18 seconds, and Lopez was struggling in his battles with Andre Drummond in the post.

Williams did not bring any scoring spark in the first quarter, but Afflalo and Lopez combined to score the Knicks’ first 17 points, and they held a 22-21 lead after one quarter. The crowd was hushed for much of the first quarter until Afflalo made Kentavious Caldwell-Pope lose his balance and fall on a crossover dribble, before closing with a jumper that bounced high off the rim and fell through the net.

“I didn’t think he had that in him,” Anthony said, laughing. “I don’t think he thought he had it in him.”

The Knicks eventually shot 60 percent from the field for the half for a 57-42 lead entering the break.

“We had a great start tonight,” Williams said. “I think that’s the biggest difference between tonight and the last 15, 20 games or so. We were really starting slow.”

Rambis was asked before the game if players like the rookie Jerian Grant might get extended looks in the rotation as the season neared an end. Rambis said he was not ready to focus only on giving younger players minutes.

“Sometimes, I sit there and talk and I’m racking my brains — should I just go ahead and give him that challenge and let’s see what happens?” Rambis said. “Or I’m not really sure about it and I’m focusing on the win and I’d rather not take that gamble at this point in time.”

Without Porzingis, though, Rambis lengthened his bench from the start. and all nine players who saw action in the first half scored, including Grant. Afflalo entered halftime 7 for 7 from the field with 15 points. He finished with 20 points.

The Knicks kept the Pistons at arm’s length throughout the third quarter, with Williams scoring 8 points. When Rambis compared Porzingis to Green earlier in the day, he added the caveat that it might take five or six years before Porzingis developed comparable foot speed and stamina. Williams, in his fifth season, displayed an array of fleet-footed moves around the basket as the Knicks carried a 79-70 lead entering the fourth.

“When he’s pushing the pace, getting out in transition, it makes the game easier for me,” Anthony said.

A 3-pointer by Reggie Bullock cut the Knicks’ advantage to 81-77, but the Knicks maintained a balanced offensive attack, pushing their lead at one point to 102-81, their largest of the game.

Saturday’s game was the Knicks’ first at the Garden since Anthony told a heckler to ask the team’s owner, James L. Dolan, for a refund if he did not like the team’s performance in their 104-85 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday.

With 1 minute 2 seconds remaining, Anthony was taken out of the game. Sitting on the bench, he flipped his headband to a child in the crowd, who was appreciative of his effort.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page SP4 of the New York edition with the headline: With Porzingis Out on Short Notice, Knicks Unite for a Victory . Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe